Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton appeared on CNN on Friday night, comparing the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to Trump inviting the Taliban to peace negotiations at Camp David.
Trump announced on Truth Social earlier that the “highly anticipated meeting” would take place on Friday, August 15.
“It’s very gracious of Putin to come to former Russian America for this summit,” a sarcastic Bolton noted. “This is not quite as bad as Trump inviting the Taliban to Camp David to talk about the peace negotiations in Afghanistan, but it certainly reminds one of that.” Trump later canceled the talks with the Taliban in September 2019.
“The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow,” Bolton added. “So, the initial setup, I think, is a great victory for Putin. He’s a rogue leader of a pariah state, and he’s going to be welcomed into the United States.”
He went on to argue that the situation “is sliding very quickly in Russia's direction.”
“We're not quite back at February the 28th, in the Oval Office, when Trump told [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, ‘You don't have any cards.’ But what's happening is that Russia and the United States are discussing what terms they're going to present to Zelenskyy, and it may well be that Zelenskyy has no choice here,” he added. “Surrendering is always one way to get a peace deal.”
Bolton suggested that “even without the meeting, Putin’s got his old magic back with Trump.”
“All that disappointment, all that outrage … now you're talking about a deal between Trump and Putin? Think of the press that will get. I have to say, from the strategic perspective, from the U.S. interest perspective, this was not a good day,” said the former U.N. ambassador.
Host Kaitlan Collins noted that Putin can’t go to Europe for a meeting, as there’s an International Criminal Court warrant out for his arrest.
Bolton argued that they could have met in Vienna or Geneva, where Putin met then-President Joe Biden in 2021.
“They're basically considered U.N. cities, and the ICC warrant could have been waived, and I don't think anybody would have objected, frankly,” he said.
Bolton said, “If Trump really wanted to get an equitable peace deal,” he could “certainly listen to what Putin had to say.”
“But they're doing a lot more than listening. They could receive the material and send it to Zelenskyy, and hear what he thought of it first,” he added.
Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term, said, “This sounds an awful lot” like the peace plan proposed by Vice President JD Vance during the campaign last year.
“Russia keeps all the territory it currently holds, a demilitarized zone, maybe with a peacekeeping force on the Ukrainian side is set up, and Ukraine pledges not to join NATO,” said Bolton. “If Ukraine agrees to a ceasefire here, it's agreeing to its new border with Russia, effectively. I think this is a very dangerous point for Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government.”
